Originally Posted by
Knobbgb
Does anybody know if it's still possible to use the other "trick" that was mentioned here some months ago? That was to book tickets through the UA website. I believe that although they don't actually offer codeshares, it is/was possible to book A3 flights there and use their tool to explicitly request a higher fare class. This is purely something I heard - I never tried it. Is that possible?
I must admit I haven't booked an A3 flight this way, as I normally need them on 390 stock for upgrades but they certainly show up on the UA website, and this trick does work perfectly for LH group airlines. UA also don't charge the "optional payment fee" so you can actually book LH/OS/SN/LX tickets cheaper via UA than via the respective airlines. Sometimes you can even get a free "hold" on the ticket by saying you want to pay in cash, which creates the reservation with a 24 hour ticketing deadline normally. You can then go back online later and enter your payment details. This option isn't always available though for some reason. All-in-all, UA is a very good way of booking Star Alliance tickets. The obvious caveat is that they own the ticket so have to be contacted if there are schedule changes or you need to make changes to your booking. The quality of agents can vary when you call UA to say the least!
Edit: for more info on the problem I had changing a flexible LH ticket booked via UA, see
my post here
Hope that helps.
